WH Smith bolsters balance sheet with £166m raising

WH Smith successfully raised £166m from its equity placing as it moved to shore up its balance sheet to mitigate the impact of the coronavirus crisis.

The high street retailer, which has been hit by a government lockdown restricting movement, on Tuesday said it had placed 15.8m shares at 1,050p each at discount of 4% to the closing price on April 6.

The company on Monday revealed it had secured new lending facilities of £120m to bolster its balance sheet, working capital and liquidity position, with the arrangement conditional on raising new equity. WH Smith said the new shares represented 13.7% of its issued share capital.

“These financing arrangements, coupled with a broad range of mitigating actions to manage the cost base and cash flow, will provide sufficient liquidity to deal with this most challenging of trading environments,” the company said on Monday.

The bookseller and stationery chain has also been hit by the collapse in air and train passenger numbers, forcing it to close its travel business as its high street stores. It has already guided for full year profits to be £30m - £40m lower.